The present invention relates to Common Information Model (CIM) servers, and more particularly, to enabling efficient responses to requests sent from a CIM object manager (CIMOM).
A CIM is an information management standard set forth by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF). Applications and apparatuses for use on different platforms may be controlled in the same way using a CIMOM and/or a software management program.
The CIM is the foundation for the DMTF technology solution to distributed enterprise management. CIM is an object-oriented management information model based on Unified Modeling Language (UML) which provides a conceptual framework for describing management data. The CIM Infrastructure Specification defines the meta schema, syntax, rule and Managed Object Format (MOF). The MOF syntax is based on the Interface Definition Language (IDL) and provides a method of describing CIM Object definitions in a textual form. The CIM Schema provides a common conceptual framework used to describe a managed environment.
Conventionally, CIM provides a common definition of management information for systems, networks, applications, and services, and allows for vendor extensions. CIM's common definitions enable vendors to exchange semantically rich management information between systems throughout the network.
CIM is traditionally composed of a Specification and a Schema. The Schema provides the actual model descriptions, while the Specification defines the details for integration with other management models.
The CIM release simultaneously provides the public with both an “Experimental” and a “Final” version of the schema. This provides DMTF members and end users with early access to experimental parts of the models. In addition, new versions of CIM are now released more frequently on a regularly scheduled basis allowing users greater access and the ability to plan accordingly.
As part of the conventional CIM release, a number of enhancements and additions are introduced throughout the Schema, including ongoing improvements to support product and alliance partners and to support DMTF Profiles and Management Initiatives. Examples include updates to basic input/output system (BIOS), printers, standard messages, operating system state, modern power management paradigms, virtualization, security, etc. In addition, it should be noted that the CIM Schema is built automatically for the DMTF. All of the change requests for the current CIM release are applied programmatically, not manually.
Furthermore, traditional CIM experimental elements may change in a backward incompatible way, which is undesirable. Contributions to the CIM schema have been made possible through the DMTF Alliance Partnerships with The Green Grid (TGG), the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) and the Open Grid Forum (OGF). Therefore, it would be of great utility to provide a CIM server capable of highly efficient response to requests sent from a CIM object manager.